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Unorthodox Rogues
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<blockquote data-quote="MavrickWeirdo" data-source="post: 2458636" data-attributes="member: 107"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>“Unorthodox Rogues”</em></span> </p><p>Written by: Samuel M. Wright, Troy Taylor, and The Le </p><p>Cover Art by: Christopher Shy</p><p>Interior Art by: Brad McDevitt, clipart dot com, </p><p><span style="color: Black">________</span> and Character Portraits, Mongoose Publishing</p><p>Edited and Published by: The Le</p><p></p><p></p><p> <strong>First Impressions</strong>: When I saw the title <em>“Unorthodox Rogues”,</em> my first guess was that it would be a collection of “honorable thieves”. (It turns out they only included one specifically honorable thief.) Instead it creates several “alternate” rogue classes, by enhancing some class abilities and skills, while limiting others.</p><p></p><p> <strong>Front Cover & Interior Art</strong>: According to the credits, most or all of the artwork used was pre-existing work, but whoever chose the artwork chose well. Most of the images used matched the content.</p><p></p><p> <strong>Introduction Page</strong>: This PDF would have been better served with more introductory information included. A “statement of intent” discussing the theme of, “Unorthodox Rogues,” would have helped put the content in perspective. As it was, most of the information provided seemed obligatory.</p><p></p><p> <strong>Content</strong>: Most of the material in this PDF is of more use to a DM than to players. Among the “Core” and “Prestige” classes provided, few would make suitable adventurers, while most are good NPC archetypes.</p><p></p><p>The new classes seem a bit overpowered, but it is tough to judge game balance without actually playing them. There are some very clever ideas in here. The vignettes included with the core classes give insight into the class, and would make memorable NPC’s. The <em>“Layabout”</em> and the <em>“Saintly Thief”</em> seem quite playable with little or no tweaking. The <em>“Seductress”</em> on the other hand is required to be female (I guess Gigolo must be a separate class) and Evil, which limits the use of the class. </p><p></p><p>Some of the Special Abilities included suffer from “requiring too much thinking” such as calculating how long it takes a <em>"Shroud"</em> (grave robber) to dig a hole. Another concern is how often the writer reinvents the wheel. Rather than creating <em>“Sneak Strike”,</em> (which is like Sneak Attack except that it uses d4 instead of d6) they could make the sneak attack bonus improve less often (which is done with the <em>“Fabricator”</em>).</p><p></p><p>The magic items section <em>“Baubles and Urus of Ancient Power”</em> seems like it was a separate idea which was thrown in. I’ll admit that it includes items which are useful to a thief (such as a <em>"Bauble of Free Movement"</em>) but they do not seem like items developed by thieves, for thieves. It also would have been good to include some indication of how valuable or expensive different baubles were. </p><p></p><p>A section on “magical poisons” would have fit the theme of the PDF better, considering that some of the classes in it have “poison use” as a special ability.</p><p></p><p> <strong>Appendixes</strong>: This ends up being one of the better features of the PDF. The standard rogue class information is included for comparison. Also included are spell and weapon information suggested for the classes, so there is less that a DM needs to look up in other places.</p><p></p><p> <strong>Disclosure</strong>: The reviewer did not purchase the PDF, but received a free copy for reviewing.</p><p></p><p> Reviewer: Peter R. Ellis a.k.a. MavrickWeirdo</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MavrickWeirdo, post: 2458636, member: 107"] [SIZE=3][I]“Unorthodox Rogues”[/I][/SIZE] Written by: Samuel M. Wright, Troy Taylor, and The Le Cover Art by: Christopher Shy Interior Art by: Brad McDevitt, clipart dot com, [COLOR=Black]________[/COLOR] and Character Portraits, Mongoose Publishing Edited and Published by: The Le [B]First Impressions[/B]: When I saw the title [I]“Unorthodox Rogues”,[/I] my first guess was that it would be a collection of “honorable thieves”. (It turns out they only included one specifically honorable thief.) Instead it creates several “alternate” rogue classes, by enhancing some class abilities and skills, while limiting others. [B]Front Cover & Interior Art[/B]: According to the credits, most or all of the artwork used was pre-existing work, but whoever chose the artwork chose well. Most of the images used matched the content. [B]Introduction Page[/B]: This PDF would have been better served with more introductory information included. A “statement of intent” discussing the theme of, “Unorthodox Rogues,” would have helped put the content in perspective. As it was, most of the information provided seemed obligatory. [B]Content[/B]: Most of the material in this PDF is of more use to a DM than to players. Among the “Core” and “Prestige” classes provided, few would make suitable adventurers, while most are good NPC archetypes. The new classes seem a bit overpowered, but it is tough to judge game balance without actually playing them. There are some very clever ideas in here. The vignettes included with the core classes give insight into the class, and would make memorable NPC’s. The [I]“Layabout”[/I] and the [I]“Saintly Thief”[/I] seem quite playable with little or no tweaking. The [I]“Seductress”[/I] on the other hand is required to be female (I guess Gigolo must be a separate class) and Evil, which limits the use of the class. Some of the Special Abilities included suffer from “requiring too much thinking” such as calculating how long it takes a [I]"Shroud"[/I] (grave robber) to dig a hole. Another concern is how often the writer reinvents the wheel. Rather than creating [I]“Sneak Strike”,[/I] (which is like Sneak Attack except that it uses d4 instead of d6) they could make the sneak attack bonus improve less often (which is done with the [I]“Fabricator”[/I]). The magic items section [I]“Baubles and Urus of Ancient Power”[/I] seems like it was a separate idea which was thrown in. I’ll admit that it includes items which are useful to a thief (such as a [I]"Bauble of Free Movement"[/I]) but they do not seem like items developed by thieves, for thieves. It also would have been good to include some indication of how valuable or expensive different baubles were. A section on “magical poisons” would have fit the theme of the PDF better, considering that some of the classes in it have “poison use” as a special ability. [B]Appendixes[/B]: This ends up being one of the better features of the PDF. The standard rogue class information is included for comparison. Also included are spell and weapon information suggested for the classes, so there is less that a DM needs to look up in other places. [B]Disclosure[/B]: The reviewer did not purchase the PDF, but received a free copy for reviewing. Reviewer: Peter R. Ellis a.k.a. MavrickWeirdo [/QUOTE]
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